The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-10-04


During the War~A Pleasant Occa-
son at Lakeviue.
The annual reunion OF the Seventh Con
necticut Volunteers was held at Lakeville.
Conn, on Sept. -, says the Hartford
C0urtnt.. -.'''-'.,,
The gathering was called to order by Col.
William B. Rudd, of the reception com
mittee, who called upon Thomas l.. Norton,
OF Lakeville, member of the Seventh and
Secretary of the Veteran Association, to
speak in behalf Of the citizens.
MI. Norton, in behalf of the citizens and
ladies, extended to the Veterans most
hearty welcome.
Gen Hawley congratulated the regiment
upon the unexpectedly large number pres
eat. He said the attendance of Col Ohm
stead. of Savannah, was the subject of
much delighted comment and congratula-
tions He Ii. a native of Georgia anu a son
of a native of Fairfield county, Connecticut
Gen Hawley is a native of North Carolina
and son of a native of Hartford county
The Seventh was four months in the siege
of Fort Pulaski and, upon the surrender
BY the interchange of generous
acts Of kindness, friendships began
that DAY which have grown to this day
When gallant battalion of four companies
of the Seventh under Rodman charged as a
forlorn hope into Fort Wagner, losing ITO
out of $50, the captured men found them
selves in the presence of Colonel Olmstead
and his First Georgia. And now, under one
flag and one constitution, and with one
destiny, the regiments are brothers of
common country, ready to stand together
in any war for the common honor. He
babe the Colonel and his daughter hearty
welcome.
Colonel Olmstead was received with pro-
longed cheering.
COL. oLMsrEADs REMARKS.
Mr.. Chairman-It is with no ordinary
feelings of qualification that | am here as
your invited guest, upon an occasion
fraught with SO many memories to each
and every one Of you but none the less to
me. | am glad to be with you at this re-
union of brave and honorable men to take
part i'll the interchange of "reminiscences of
the days when this great land was stirred
to its hearts depths, and when every man
who had the true manhood in him, whether
north of ''Mason and DixonS or south of it.
was impelled to take his part according to
the light that was before him. and to risk
''life, fortune and sacred honor" for the
cause that was dear to him. True we diff
fered in our views of duty. Yet the very
magnitude of the struggle was convincing
proof that it was no petty strife of politi-
clans, but an earnest uprising of the people on
both sides for the settlement of questions
that had been as "a thorn in the flesh for
generations.
1t would be ungracious as well as unprofi-
table to enter upon an argument as to
where the right lay, nor is it my desire to do
So, but this much | can say, and that too in
ali loyalty to the gallant comrades of the
Confederate service who yet survive, and to
the still greater number whose blood has
watered every hillside from the Potomac to
the Rio Grande, the great unnumbered
army who have "crossed the river" and are
lat rest under the trees This can say,
that believe reverently III the ovelruliDg
power of Almighty God. that / am satisfied
lie has ordained for the South through what
we once thought our greatest tribulation, a
future and a career far better than we could
have mapped ou1 for ourselves.
My meeting with you, gentlemen of the
Seventh Connecticut is particularly pleas
ant for the reason that even in the DAYS
when the blood was hot and the red fires of
war lighted the land with lurid glare, hon
ored you with respect born of admiration
for your brave bearing and nurtured by
your kind courtesy at time when adverse
fortune had made me your prisoner. | say
this not for myself alone, but also for the
officers and men of nv old command, the
First volunteer regi' tent Of Georgia-from
the lips of none of VIII IN have | ever heard
ought save kindly speech of you. And for
myself | may truthfully add that from the
eventful day in April, ~, when first | met
you, to the present time have never lost
opportunity TO tell others what was in my
heart concerning you. Bravery and kindli-
ness are closely allied and when man is
overcome by their union he is vanquished
indeed. The fortunes of war, it is true, an
rayed US in arms directly against each other
once again at Wagner but believe me, COM
rades, even then should have been rejoiced
TO clasp hands with you as we are doing to-
day and to call you friends.
| have long thought, Mr.. Chairman, that
in the not very distant future the people of
this whole country would learn to look upon
the galantry OF the Southern soldier and the
accomplishing fortitude of the Southern
people as heritage III common, with their
admiration for similar virtues at the North;
that the questions upon which we were at
Issue viii be forgotten and only remem-
bered as points of historical interest, while
the brave deeds of Northern and Southern
soldiers alike will be cherished in the mem
cries OF the entire people as sure evidence
that the American is no degenerate scion of
noble stock, but the equal of any man
upon earth.
Where is the Englishman whose heart
does not tilrob when he reads of the days of
the mighty struggle between King and com
monwcalth What matters 1t to him
whether his ancestors charged with the fiery
Prince Rupert or stood with grim determi-
nation in the solid ranks of Cromwell's
regiment. He knows that his countrymen
on both sides then proved themselves men
ready to die for what they believed to be
right. And does any Frenchman refuse a
proud sympathy to La Roche Jacquelin
and his Vendean followers. even though his
political affinities may be in full accord with
the soldiers who overcame that devoted
band
Who can fail to give unqualified honor
and respect to such men who battled for the
lilies of France against hope, and in face of
black despair. The King had gone to the
scatfold their cause was lost; life only was
left; yet still they fought on until that too
was laid a willing sacrifice upon the altar
of country. Mistaken they may have been,
yet France is the better because they lived,
and their memory is one of the priceless
Jewels of that fair land,
30 may it be with us, my countrymen.
80 may we give honor alike to the brave
men who charged along the sands of Morris
Island and died upon the parapets OF Wag-
ner, and to those who. stubbornly held that
little fort--to the men who dashed like
great wave against Cemetery Ridge at Get
tysburg as well as to those who stood there
TlTn Ala.. lima fxE